CONCORD -- Residential home sales in New Hampshire saw a year-over-year increase for the 21st consecutive month in August, outpacing August 2012 by 12 percent, while the price of those homes was up by 13 percent for the month as well.

There were 1,685 residential sales in the month, compared with 1,499 from a year ago, marking the most sales in any single month since August 2005. With a median price of $220,000 (compared with $195,500 in August 2012), it added up to a 23percent increase in overall August sales volume, meaning the total dollars exchanged in those transactions.

“It’s hard to say how long demand will continue to outpace concern over higher mortgage rates, but for now that remains the trend,” said 2013 NHAR President Bill Weidacher, pointing out that with all measures of market health moving upward, it is critical that serious buyers bring competitive offers to the table.

“The buyer leverage of the past five or six years has swung back to the point where, in most New Hampshire markets, it’s either a seller advantage or at least a balanced market.”

Year to date numbers in 2013 continue to be on the upswing as well. For the first eight months combined, compared to 2012, closed sales are up 12 percent, median price is ahead by 10 percent, and sales volume saw an 18 percent increase.

The average days on the market for sold homes through August, meanwhile, has declined by 8 percent, from an average of 122 days January-August 2012 to 112 days for that period in 2013.

Perhaps most significant in terms of recent trends, pending sales, a forward-looking sales indicator, increased by 42 percent in August and has risen 20 percent year to date.

And months supply, which measures the number of months it would take to sell of the current inventory of homes at the current pace of sales, dropped 34 percent – from 13months in August 2012 to 8.6 in August 2013.

“Anything in that six- to eight-month supply range means we’re about where we want to be in terms of inventory and sales,” Weidacher said, noting that months supply was as high as 18.1 as recently as August 2011.

Condominium sales in New Hampshire, meanwhile, trended similarly in August, ahead by 28 percent in closed sales, 15 percent in median price, and 35 percent in sales volume. Year to date, those numbers are 17 percent, 8 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

Locally, seven of the 10 New Hampshire counties saw residential unit sales increases in August – with Merrimack County level and Cheshire and Coos counties seeing declines. Nine of 10 witnessed August median price increases as well, with only Coos seeing a decline.

In Rockingham County, the median sales price for single family homes was $262,000, up 6.9 percent year to date. In Strafford County, it was $180,400, up 8.7 percent.